Why is Dhoni killing himself?

[The Outsider]

The guy has had the most strenuous workload amongst international cricketers over the past few seasons in terms of matches played. Not only has he played the most number of matches, he is a wicketkeeper and captain, and in ODIs he is one of the team's premier batsmen. He has to be switched on in every delivery. And as if international cricket was not enough, he plays a full part in the IPL and CL as well. He looks jaded behind the stumps lately and his captaincy on the field seems to have lost a lot of edge as well, despite the meager bowling resources he has to deal with. What is the point of him playing this Micromax triangular series? And with Karthik in the team, the least he can do is delegate the keeping duties to him. From what I know he is carrying a niggle in his finger and every few games it's a common sight to see Dhoni clutching to his back. In the recently concluded test series, India was on the field for nearly 600 overs in the sapping heat and humidity within a space of 3 weeks. That is a lot of workload for the keeper and more so that he doubles up as captain. The future is equally bad. The Micromax triangular, Champions League, test and ODIs against Australia, tests and ODIs against New Zealand, tests and ODIs against South Africa. Insane amount of cricket coming up and Dhoni looks like a disaster waiting to happen, if not through a major injury then a major slump in form. Maybe we are already seeing symptoms of it and his glove work has been pretty ordinary over the last month. He needs to rest adequately. If he doesn't do it on his own, the BCCI and selectors must force him to.

[Fontaine]

I agree but realistically the BCCI is never going to do anything that will even remotely jeopardize the TV audiences and contracts. We shouldn't have so many mickey mouse tournaments especially the ones that constantly involve sri lanka.

[Serani]

he is getting ready for early retirement

[Tendulkar_Bhai]

He's been going grey for years! I agree, our key players Tendulkar, Zaheer, Dhoni and maybe Shewag dont need to be playing against the likes of sri lanka, bangladesh and zimbabwe! Inevitably his captainly and decision making will be poor if he is tried, i mean it explains why he persists in playing Nehra/Jadega/Karthik

[Clarke]

Dhoni was and is an intelligent cricketer; he knew the limits of his body and although he pushed it, he was smart to skip a series when he was burnt out such as the last Lanka tour. There seem to be atleast two possibilities: a) he realized the weakened squad and decided to stay. b) he had been warned earlier by the crooks like Pawar that run BCCI. You cannot rule this out.

[don_corleone840]

Our selectors are just rubbi******s miracle that india is actually not lossing consistently (thanks to dhoni) despite such a pathetic selection.Y they are picking nohit sharma and jadeja is beyond explanaton.

[The Outsider]

I agree that he might have stayed on because it's an already weakened squad with Tendulkar, Gambhir, Zaheer, and Harbhajan already out, but the least he can do is hand over the keeping to Karthik. Karthik is already in the playing XI and the experience of keeping can perhaps help him regain some confidence while keeping. At the very least it will help Karthik develop as a backup alternative and given Dhoni's current form with the gloves, Karthik can't do a much worse job than him.

[vvvslaxman]

Our selectors are just rubbi******s miracle that india is actually not lossing consistently (thanks to dhoni) despite such a pathetic selection.Y they are picking nohit sharma and jadeja is beyond explanaton.

Rohit made 2 centuries in recent ODI. So he won't be dropped. But Jaddu is not exactly captain's dream. if anything he is a nightmare. He is still recovering from Dave Warner/Watson assault in T20.

[thevortex]

Very very valid question. Dhoni very expressly avoids giving Karthik the gloves even when the latter is in the squad. He does need talking to. As a matter of fact, Dhoni being forced to do so many roles will only mean that he will have a shorter career. One look at his salt and pepper (now gone almost fully white) beard and hair should tell us what sort of stress this man is baking under.

[saneindian]

Very very valid question. Dhoni very expressly avoids giving Karthik the gloves even when the latter is in the squad. He does need talking to. As a matter of fact, Dhoni being forced to do so many roles will only mean that he will have a shorter career. One look at his salt and pepper (now gone almost fully white) beard and hair should tell us what sort of stress this man is baking under.

And when he does let DK keep, he's called as "enjoying the perks of being the captain", " not prepared to do the hard yards for the nation" blah blah...

[Manny_Pacquiao]

Indians deserve to see dhoni killing himself. people went nuts in criticising him when he skipped the SL series two years ago, and some stil call him a lucky captain and somebody who plays for his average, favours other players, etc. etc. wel, he is being run into the ground now, playing each and every game, wicketkeeping all the time until that finger snaps off and requires amputation, and burning out at the rate of knots by being the most physically and mentally burdened captain in cricket.

[thevortex]

And when he does let DK keep' date=' he's called as "enjoying the perks of being the captain", " not prepared to do the hard yards for the nation" blah blah...[/quote'] Hmm...I dont know that he was accused of such. Was there an instance of this happening?

[achilles]

I assume an ego issue, as far as DK not keeping despite being in the XI goes. Or maybe Dhoni thinks he could make better use of DK for his belligerent fielding. As for the other issues, I agree with Swetabh, Clarke, MP and pretty much everybody. We seem to have a consensus here that maybe Dhoni should work out his workload and conserve himself for the future.

[Lord]

Indians deserve to see dhoni killing himself. people went nuts in criticising him when he skipped the SL series two years ago, and some stil call him a lucky captain and somebody who plays for his average, favours other players, etc. etc. wel, he is being run into the ground now, playing each and every game, wicketkeeping all the time until that finger snaps off and requires amputation, and burning out at the rate of knots by being the most physically and mentally burdened captain in cricket.

there is a reason u see this thread now in a meaningless tourney n not in the test series.fatigue cant be the reason for skipping Tests.37 yr old Sachin played the tests,but not this series,see the pattern?

[Karan114]

I agree that at the very least he should give the gloves to Karthik in limited overs internationals.

[diegovegaz]

the earliest we can do is let kaarthick keep, and let dhoni come as a finisher, rather a floater

[nballa]

people should be thankful for every opportunity to play. not whine about workload. there are millions of people who would do anything for a spot in the national cricket team. it is afterall a game, a sport played for fun. can't handle the workload then just retire from the game.

[Lord]

people should be thankful for every opportunity to play. not whine about workload. there are millions of people who would do anything for a spot in the national cricket team. it is afterall a game, a sport played for fun. can't handle the workload then just retire from the game.

like Afridi:woot:

[kabira]

I actually heard someone mention that Dhoni was considering resting for few games. I hope he does.

[achilles]

people should be thankful for every opportunity to play. not whine about workload. there are millions of people who would do anything for a spot in the national cricket team. it is afterall a game, a sport played for fun. can't handle the workload then just retire from the game.

This is a point that among many a legend, Sunil Gavaskar persistently makes.